CHICAGO -- With the average age of retiring dancers hovering at 28, it's a rarity to come across The Joffrey Ballet principal dancer Willy Shives, who, even at the age of 45, "can't wait to get to my ballet class and rehearse." Not many dancers revel in their work the way Shives does. Nor do they possess the staying power with audiences and the willpower to stay at the top of their game.

Willy Shives left Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre in 1999 planning to retire, but wound up dancing with the Joffrey Ballet. Click photo for larger image. The Joffrey Ballet Where: Pittsburgh Dance Council at the Benedum Center, Downtown. When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets: $22.50-$50.50; "Gods and Goddesses" after-party 10 p.m. Saturday at 121 Seventh St., $75 for performance and party or $40 for party only; www.pgharts.org or 412-456-6666.

People at the Joffrey, scheduled to perform at the Benedum Center Friday and Saturday, agree. The dancers affectionately call him "grandpa," and the administrative staff makes it clear that he can dance as long as he wants.

When Shives left Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre as a popular principal dancer in 1999 -- he still has a fan club that includes former Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy and former PBT board member Linda Dickerson -- he thought he would just go back home to Austin, Texas, to teach and be with his family.

A pre-planned trip to Milwaukee Ballet as a guest artist turned into a dream come true. As it happened, Gerald Arpino, one of the celebrated co-founders of the Joffrey, was in town. Through the efforts of wife Evie Pena-Shives, Arpino saw him dance.

"Come take class and show them what you've got," Arpino urged. Shives demurred, saying that he was injured and needed a couple of months to heal. If the offer still stood, he would re-consider the offer. "Just take your Ibuprofin and go ice up, and you'll be fine," Arpino countered.

"So here I am," Shives says with a shrug and a smile as he sits in the Auditorium Theatre of Chicago's Roosevelt University. Waiting to go on in the dress rehearsal of "Cinderella," he looks like a picture-perfect Prince Charming in his brocaded costume.

Thus he began an essentially unplanned career extension with one of the premiere American dance companies. Just like a cat, Shives appeared to have nine dancing lives. And just like a prince, he seemed to lead a fairy tale existence wherever he goes.

A native of south Texas, Shives received his formal training with the School of American Ballet and the Harkness Ballet School. He led a journeyman existence, performing with the Tulsa Ballet Theatre, Minnesota Dance Theatre and Milwaukee Ballet before coming to Pittsburgh as a soloist in 1993.

The Shiveses quickly made the Steel City their home. His first child, Cecily, was born here -- he snaps off the names of Dr. Wilkins and Dr. White, Shadyside Hospital's attending physicians. And his wife, Evie, also a former dancer (and Shives' first Cowgirl in his "Rodeo," still his favorite piece) graduated from Chatham College magna cum laude.

Shives tackled a wide variety of roles, from the princely kind to character roles like Puck in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and Renfield in "Dracula," demonstrating a nimble jump and a turning wizardry that entranced audiences. Shives says that it was good "to be trusted so much" at PBT. "It made me believe in myself."

He seems to have picked up where he left off in a company that counts international stars like Glen Tetley, Gary Chryst and Jodie Gates in its hall of fame. "It's a little bit harder," he says quietly. "I don't jump as high as I used to. I don't do as many turns as I used to. But my feet still point, and I still have fifth to fifth double tours, and I'm still enjoying myself."

He and longtime partner Maia Wilkins will open the program at the Benedum Center with a duet that Arpino choreographed just for them. Called "Ruth: Ricordi Per Due," it was commissioned by Joffrey supporter Barbara Levy in remembrance of her mother. "It's a beautiful piece where I cry on stage," he says. "I dig deep and go to that place. I embrace the moment."

That is something that Shives has always done, whether it was cutting short his lunch to help PBT's then-new dancers Ying Li and Jiabin Pan with their first newspaper interview or mentoring the young Joffrey apprentices with a never-ending supply of encouragement.

As for that retirement, his dancing daughters, Cecily, 11, and Ally, 8, might have something to say. Cecily has stated, "Dad, you can't retire 'til I do the Sugar Plum." To which Shives responded, "What am I?"

"You're the prince."